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SPEECH OF MR. WEBSTER 



ON 



MR. CLAY'S RESOLUTIONS. 



Delivered in the Senate of the United States, March 7, 1850. 



SECOND EDITION. 



The Vice President. The resolutions submitted by the Senator from Kentucky were made the 
special order of the day at 12 o'clock. The Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Walker) has the floor. 
* Mr. Walker. Mr. President, this vast audience has not assembled to hear me; and there is but 
one man, in my opinion, who can assemble such an audience. Theyexpect to hear him, and I feel it 
to be my duty, as it is my pleasure, to give the floor, therefore, to the Senator from Massachusetts. 
I understand it is immaterial to him upon which of these questions he speaks, and therefore I will not 
move to postpone the special order. 

-.- Mr. Webster. I beg to express my obligations to my friend from Wisconsin, (Mr. Walker,) as 
well as to my friend from New York, (Mr. Seward,) for their courtesy in allowing rne to address the 
Senate this morning. 

Mr. President, I wish to speak to-day, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as 
an American, and a member of the Senate of the United States. It is fortunate that there is a Senate 
of the United States; a body, not yet moved from its propriety, not lost to a just sense of its own dig- 
nity, and its own high responsibilities, and a body to which the country looks, with confidence, for 
wise, moderate, patriotic, and healing counsels. It is not to be denied that we live in the midst of 
strong agitations, and are surrounded" by very considerable dangers to our institutions and government. 
The imprisoned winds are let loose. Tne East, the North, and the stormy South, combine to 
throw the whole ocean into commotion, to toss its billows to the skies, and disclose its profoundest 
depths. I do not affect to regard mysejf, Mr. President, as holding, or as fit to hold, the helm 
in this combat with the political elements ; but I have a duty to perform, and I mean to perform it 
with fidelity, not without a sense of existing dangers, but not without hope. I have a part to act, 
not for my own security or safely, for I am looking out for no fragment upon which to float away 
from the wreck, if wreck there must be, but for the good of the whole, and the preservation of all; 
and there is that which will keep me to my duty during this struggle, whether the sun and the 
stars shall appear, or shall not appear, for many days. I speak to-day for the preservation of the 
Union. " Hear me for my cause." I speak to-day, out of a solicitous and anxious heart, for the resto- 
ration to the country of that quiet and that harmony, which make the blessings of this Union so rich 
and so dear to us all. These are the topics that I propose to myself to discuss ; these are the motives, 
and the sole motives, that influence me in the wish to communicate my opinions to the Senate and the 
country; and if I can do any thing, however little, for the promotion of these ends, I shall have ac- 
complished all that I expect. 

Mr. President, it may not be amiss to recur very briefly to the events which, equally sudden and 
extraordinary, have brought the political condition of the country to what it now is. In May, 1846, 
the United States declared war against Mexico. Our armies, then on the frontiers, entered the pro- 
vinces of that republic, met and defeated all her troops, penetrated her mountain passes, and occu- 
pied her capital. The marine force of the United States took possession of her torts and her towns, 
on the Atlantic and on the Pacific. In less t;>an two years, a treaty was negotiated, by which Mexico 
ceded to the United States a vast territory, extending seven or eight hundred miles along the shores of 
the Pacific, and reaching back over the mountains, and across the desert, until it joins the frontier of 
the State of Texas. It so happened, in the distracted and feeble state of the Mexican Government, 
that, before the declaration of war by the United States against Mexico had become known in Cali- 
fornia, the people of California, under the lead of American officers, overthrew the existing provin- 
cial government of California, the Mexican authorities, and run up an independent flog. When 
the news arrived at St. Francisco tkat war had been declared by the United States against Mexico, 
this independent flag was pulled down and the stars and stripes of this Union hoisted m its stead. So, 
sir, before the war was over, the forces of the United States, military and naval, had possession of 
San Francisco and Upper California, and a great rush of emigrants from various parts of the world took 
place into California in 1846 and 1847. But now, behold another wonder. 

In January of 1848, the Mormons, or some of them, made a discovery of an extraordinarily 
rich mine of gold, or, rather, of a very great quantity of gold, hardly fit to be called a mine, for it 
was spread near the surface, on the lower part of the South, or American, branch of the Sacramento. 
They seem to have attempted to conceal their discovery for some, time; but soon another discovery, 

Gkikon & Co., Printers. 



struck down from heaven. They prefer the chance of running into utter darkness, to living in hea- 
venly light, if that heavenly light be not absolutely without any imperfection. There arc impatient 
men', too impatient always to give heed to the admonition of St. Paul, " that we are not to do evil 
that good may come;" too impatient to wait for the slow progress of moral causes in the improvement 

of mankind. They do not remember, that the doctrines and the miracles of Jesus Christ have, in 
eighteen hundred verted only a small portion of the human race; and among the nations 

that are converted to Christianity, they forget how many vices and crimes, public and private, still 
prevail, and thai many of them, public crimes especially, which are so clearly offences against the 
Christian n without exciting particular indignation. Thus wars are waged, and unjust wars. 

I do not deny that there may be just wars. There certainly are; but it was the remark of an emi- 
nent person, not many years ago, on the other side of the Atlantic, that it was one of the greatest 
reproaches 10 human nature that wars were sometimes just. The defence of nations sometimes 
causes a just war against the injustice of other nations. 

Now, air, in this state of sentiment upon the general nature of slavery lies the cause of a great 
part of those unhappy divisions, exasperations, and reproaches, which find vent and support in 
different parts of the Union. Slavery does exist in the United States. It did exist in the States be- 
fore the adoption of this Constitution, and at that time. 

And now kt us consider, sir, for a moment, what was the state of sentiment, North and South, in 
regard to slavery, at the time this Constitution was adopted. A remarkable change has taken place 
since; but what did the wis. .mil great men of all parts of the country think of slavery, then? In what 
estimation did they hold it at the time when this Constitution was adopted i Now, it will be found, sir, 
if we will carry ourselves by historical research back to that day, and ascertain men's opinions by au- 
thentic records still existing among us, that there was no great diversity of opinion between the North 
and the South upon the subject of slavery. And it will be found that both parts of the country held it 
equally an evil, a moral and political evil. It will not be found, that either at the North or at the 
South, there was much, though there was some, invective against slavery as inhuman and cruel. The 
great ground of objection to it was political ; that it weakened the social fabric; that, taking the place 
of fredabor, society became less strong and labor was less productive; and, therefore, we find from all the 
eminent men of the time the clearest expression of their opinion that slavery was an evil. And they 
ascribed ii here, not without truth, and not without some acerbity of temper and force of 

language, to the injurious policy of the mother country, who, to favor the navigator, had entailed 
these evils upon the colonies. I need hardly refer, sir, particularly to the publications of the day. They 
are matters of history on the record. The eminent men, the most eminent men, and nearly all the con- 
uous politicians of the South, held the same sentiments; that slavery was an evil, a blight, a blast, 
a mildew,' and a curse. There are no terms of reprobation of slavery so vehement in the 

North of tl in the South. The North was not so much excited against it as the South ; and 

the reason is, I suppose, because there was much less of it at the North, and the people did not sec, or 
think they saw, the evils so prominently as they were seen, or thought to be seen, at the South. 

Then, sir, when this Constitution was framed, this was the light in which the Convention viewed it. 
The Convention reflected the judgment and sentiments of the great men of the South. A member of 
the other House, whom I have not the honor to know, in a recent speech, has collected extracts from 
these public documents. They prove the truth of what I am saying, and the question then was, how 
to deal witli it, and how to deal with it as an evil? Well, they came to this general result. They 
thougl ■ ry could not be continued in the country, if the importation of slaves were made to 

cease", and therefore thev provided that after a certain period the importation might be prevented, by the 
act of the new Government. Twenty years was proposed by some gentleman, a Northern gentleman, 
I think, and many of the Southern gentlemen opposed it as being too long. Mr. Madison especially 
was something warm against it. He said it would bring too much of this mischief into the country to 
allow the importation i such a period. Because we must take along with us, in the whole 

of this discussion, when we are considering the sentiments and opinions in which the constitutional 
provi ated', that the conviction of all men was, that if the importation of slaves erased, the 

win:. d multiply faster than the black race, and that slavery would therefore gradually wear 

out and ea It i lay not be improper here to allude to that, 1 had almost said, celebrated opinion 

Fou observe, sir, that the term slave or slavery is not used in the Constitution. 
I ' r tituMon does not require that "fugitive slaves" shall be delivered up. It requires that "per- 
sons I o ind to . ervice in one Siate, and escaping into another, shall be delivered up." Mr. Madison 
opp., noil of the term slave, or slavery, into the Constitution; for, lie said that he did 

not v. ii d by the Constitution ©f the United States of America that there could be 

propi .Now, sir, all this took place at the Convention in 1787; but, connected with this, 

■ and cotemporaneous, i important transaction not sufficiently attended to. The 

Constitution assembled in Philadelphia in May. and sat until September, 
i • ss of the United States was in session at New York. It was 

B mat rn,as we know, that the Convention should not assemble in the same city where 

.. Almost all the public men of the country, therefore, of distinction 
and . n oue or the other of theee two assemblies ; and I think it happened, in some in- 

li mi n were members of both. If 1 mistake not, such was the case of Mr. 
. i in, m Massachusetts, and m the sanuurae a member of 

th« i o fremi the Constitution. Now.it was in the summer of 1787, the very time 

wi.-n ii,, • in Philadelphia was framing this Constitution, thai the Congress in New 

. kwasframi nance of 1787. Tl that ordinance on the 13th July, 1787, nt New 



York, the very month, perhaps the very day, on which these questions about the importation of slaves 
and the character of slavery, were debated in the Convention at Philadelphia. And, bo far as we can 
now learn, there was a perfect concurrence of opinion between these respective bodies ; and it resulted 
in this ordinance of 1787, excluding slavery as to all the territory over which (he Congress of the 
United States had jurisdiction, and that was, all the territory northwest of the Ohio, three years 
before, Virginia and other States had made a cession of that great territory to the United States. And 
a most magnificent act it was. I never reflect upon it without a disposition to do honor and justice, 
and justice would be the highest honor, to Virginia, for the cession of her northwestern terri- 
tory. I will say, sir, it is one of her fairest claims to the respect and gratitude of the United States, 
and that perhaps it is only second to that other claim which attaches to her; that, from her counsels, 
and from the intelligence and patriotism of her leading statesmen, proceeded the first idea put into 
practice of the formation of a general constitution of the United States. Now, sir, the ordinance of 
1787 was applied thus to the whole territory over which the Congress of the United States had juris- 
diction. It was adopted two years before the Constitution of the United States went into operation ; 
because the ordinance took effect immediately on its passage, while the Constitution of the United 
States, having been framed, was to be sent to the States to be adopted by their Conventions; and then 
a Government was to be organized under it. This ordinance, then, was in operation and force when 
the Constitution was adopted and the Government put in motion, in April, 1789. 

Mr. President, three things are quite clear, as historical truths. One is, that there was an expectation 
that, on the ceasing of the. importation of slaves from Africa, slavery would begin to run out here. That 
was hoped and expected. Another is, that, as far as there was any power in Congress to prevent the 
spread of slavery in the United States, that power was executed in the most absolute manner, and to 
the fullest extent. An honorable member, whose health does not allow him to be here to-day — 

A Senator. He is here. (Referring to Mr. Calhoun.) 
— Mr. Webster. I am very happy to hear that he is; may he long be here, and in the enjoyment of 
health to serve his country! The honorable member said, the other day, that he considered this ordi- 
nance as the first, in the series of measures, calculated to enfeeble the South and deprive them of their 
just participation in the benefits and privileges of this Government. He says very properly that it was 
enacted under the old confederation and before this Constitution went into effect; but, my present purpose 
is only to say, Mr. President, that it was established with the entire and unanimous concurrence of the 
whole South. Why, there it stands! The vote of every State in the Union was unanimous in favor of 
the ordinance, with the exception of a single individual vote, and that individual vote was given by a 
Northern man. But, sir, the ordinance abolishing, or rather prohibiting, slavery northwest of the 
Ohio, has the hand and seal of every Southern member in Congress. So this ordinance was no aggres- 
sion of the North on the south. 

The other and third clear historical truth is, that the Convention meant to leave slavery, in the 
States, as they found it, entirely under the authority and control of the States themselves. 

This was the state of things, sir, and this the state of opinion, under which those very important 
matters were arranged, and those three important things done ; that is, the establishment of the Consti- 
tution with a recognition of slavery as it existed in "the States, the establishment of the ordinance 
prohibiting, to the full extent of all territory owned by the United States, the introduction of slavery 
into that territory, while leaving to the States all power over slavery, in their own limits; and creating a 
power, in the new Government, to put an end to the importation of slaves, after a limited period. And 
here, sir, we may pause. We may reflect for a moment upon the entire coincidence and concurrence 
of sentiment, between the North and the South, upon all these questions, at the period of the adoption 
of the Constitution. But opinions, sir, have changed, greatly changed, changed North, and changed 
South. Slavery is not regarded in the South now as it was then. I see an honorable member of this 
body paying me the honor of listening to my remarks, (Mr. Mason;) he brings to me, sir, freshly and 
vividly, what I have learned of his great ancestor, so much distinguished in his day and generation, 
so worthy to be succeeded by so worthy a grandson, with all the sentiments he expressed in the Con- 
vention in Philadelphia. 

Here we may pause. There was, if not an entire unanimity, a general concurrence of sentiment, 
running through the whole community, and especially entertained by the eminent men of all parts 
of the country. But soon a change began, at the North and the South, and a severance of opinion 
showed itself; the North growing much more warm and strong against slavery, and the South grow- 
ing much more warm and strong in its support. Sir, there is no generation of mankind whose opin- 
ions are not subject to be influenced by what appears to them to be their present, emergent, and exi- 
gent interests. 1 impute to the South no particularly selfish view in the change which has come oveHier. 
I impute to her certainly no dishonest view. All that has happened has been natural. It has follow- 
ed those causes which always influence the human mind and operate upon it. What, then, have been 
the causes which have created so new a feeling in favor of slavery in the South, which have changed 
the whole nomenclature of the South on that subject, so that, from being thought and described in the 
terms I have mentioned and will not repeat, it has now become an institution, a cherished institution, 
in that quarter; no evil, no scourge, but a great religious, social, and moral blessing, as I think I have 
heard it latterly spoken of? I suppose this, sir, is owing to the sudden uprising and rapid growth of 
the COTTON plantations of the South. So far as any motive consistent with honor, justice, and 
genera] judgment could act, it was the COTTON interest that gave a new desire to promote slavery, 
to spread it and to use its labor. I again say that that was produced by causes which we must always 
expect to produce like effects; the whole interest of the South became connected, more or less, 
with it. If we look back to the history of the commerce of this country at the early years of this 



was hardly, or but to a very limited extent, known. 
! Lton for the years 1790 and "ill were not mure than forty or 

fifty thoi i 5 rapidly, until it may now, perhaps, in a season 

tnd high prices, an, mint to ahuudred millions of dollars. In the years 1 have men- 

il wax, mon , more of rice, more of almost every arti le of export 

from the South, than of cotton. 1 think it is true, when Mr. Jay negotiated the treaty of 17l)l with 

i lid not know thai exp irted at all from the United States; and I have 

, thai the custom-house in London refused to admit cotton, upon an allegation that 

• nol be ai l)eing, as they supposed, no cotton raised in America. 

I ■• think so i o •'• 

°i ■ knowwhal ; of cotton became the golden age of our Southern breth- 

ren. It gratified their desire for improvement and accumulation, at the same time that it excited it. 
i y whal it fed upon, ami there soon came to bean eagerness for other territory, a 

for the cultivation of th( cotton crop; and measures leading to this result were 
one after another, under the lead of Southern men at the head of the Grovern- 
they having a majority in both branches Id accomplish their ends. The honorable member from 
South < erred that there has been a majority all along in favor of the North. If thatbe true, 

sir, the North has acted either very liberally and kindly, or very weakly; for they never exercised that 
majority efficiently five times in the history of the Government when a division, or trial of strength, 
arose. Never. Whether they were out-generaled, or whether it was owing to other causes, 
I shall not stop to consider; but no man acquainted with the history of the country am deny, 
that thi lead in the politics of the country for three fourths of the period that has 

elapsed since the adoption of me Constitution, has been a Southern lead. In 1802, in pursuit 
of the idea of opening a new cotto.i region, the United States obtained a cession from Geor- 
?ia of the whole of her western territory , now embracing the rich and growing State of Alabama. 
In LU03, Louisiana was purchased from France, out of which the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, 
and Missouri, have been framed, as slaveholding States. In 1819, the cession of Florida was 
mad< . bringing in another region of slaveholding properly and territory. Sir, the honorable member 
from South t larolina thought he saw in certain operations of the Government, such as the manner of 
colic ting the revenue, and the tendency of measures calculaied to promote emigration into the country, 
" '. fur the more rapid growth of the North than the South. He ascribes that more rapid 
I, not to the operation of time, but to the system of government, administration, established under 
institution. That is matter of opinion. To a certain extent it may be true; but it does seem to me 
that if ;my operation of the Government could be shown in any degree to have promoted the population, 
and growth, and wealth of the North, it is much more sure that there are sundry important and distinct 
operations of the Government, about which no man can doubt, tending to promote, and which abso- 
lve promoted, the increase of the slave interest and the slave territory of the South. Allow 
me to say that it was not time that brought in Louisiana; it was the act of men. It was not time 
thai brought in Florida; it was the act of men. And lastly, sir, to complete those acts of men which 
have conn ibut' d so much to enlarge the area and the sphere of the institution of slavery, Texas, great 
illimitable Texas, was added to the Union as a slave State in 1845; and that, sir, pretty 
lie whole chupter, and settled the whole account. That closed the whole chapter, that 
settled the whole account, because the annexation of Texas, upon the conditions and under the guaran- 
i which sin was admitted, did not leave within the control of this Government an acre of land, 
■ of being cultivated by slave labor, between this Capitol and the Rio Grande or the Nueces, or 
Lh( propi t boundary of Texas, not an acre. From that moment the whole country, from 
this place to the western boundary of Texas, was fixed, pledged, fastened, decided, to be slave territory 
by the solemn guaranties of law. And 1 now say, sir, as the proposition upon which 1 stand 
this day, and upon the truth and firmness of which I intend to act until it is overthrown, that there 
is not at this moment within the United States, or any territory of the United States, a single foot of 
land, thi r of .■. hich, in regard to its being free-soil territory or slave territory, is not fixed by 

and ome irrep .. , beyond the power of the action of the Government. Now, is it 

Why, it is most manifestly so. The honorable member from South 
Carolina, si tin tin on of Texas, held an important post in the Executive Department 

ofth' ' ■ was Si-<t< t 'i v "f S'ao-. A n< >: ; v i '< m i nent person of great activity and adroit- 

ness i n nit ., I mi in the late Secretary of the Treasury, (Mr. Walker,) was a conspicuous member i 
of this body, and look the lead in the business of annexation, in co-operation with the Secretary of 
I ly that they did their business faithfully and thoroughly; there was no botch left in 

it. They rounded ii on", and made as close joiner-work as ever was exhibited. Resolutions of an- 
nexation were brought i ii to G , joined together, compact, fum, efficient, conclusive upon 

-. nil lii . i rci utions past ed. 

Ii is the third clause of the second section of the reso- 
lute, ii of thi jsl March, Into, for the admission of Texas, which applies to this part of the case. That 
■ 

"Nl a nol SXi 1 I ding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas, 

u ■ t population, may hereafter, by the consent of said State, be formed out of the 

' be i milled to adra ision under the provisions of the Federal Cons ti tu- 

be formed oul i f thai portion of said Territory lying south of thirty- 
hix degrei • Ih rty minutes north latitude, commonly known us the Missouri compromise line, shall 
bt udiini'.. d into the I union with or withou i the people of each State asking admission may 



desire; and in such State or States as shall be formed out of said Territory north of said Missouri 
compromise line, slavery or involuntary servitude (except for crime) shall be prohibited.'' 

Now what is here stipulated, enacted, secured? It is, that ad Texas south of 3i.° 30', which is 
nearly the whole of it, shall be admitted into the Union as a slavr State. It was a slave State, and 
therefore came in as a slave State; and the guaranty is, that new States shall be made out of it, and 
that such States as are formed out of that portion of Texas lying south of 36° 30 may come in as 
slave States to the number of four, in addition to the State then in existence, and admitted at that 
time by these resolutions. I know no form of legislation which can strengthen this. I know no 
mode of recognition that can a<id a tittle of weight to it. I listened respectfully to the resolutions of 
my honorable friend from Tennessee, (Mr. Bell.) He proposed to recognise that stipulation with 
Texas. But any additional recognition would weaken the force of it; because it stands here on the 
ground of a contract, a thing done for a consideration. It is a law founded on a contract with Texas, 
and designed to carry that contract into effect. A recognition, now, founded not on any consideration or 
any contract, would not be so strong as it now stands on the face of the resolution. Now I know no 
way, I candidly confess, in which this Government, acting in good faith, as I trust it always will, can 
relieve itself from that stipulation and pledge, by any honest course of legislation whatever. And, 
therefore, 1 say again that, so far as Texas is concerned, the whole of Texas south of 36° 30', which, 
I suppose, embraces all the territory capable of slave cultivation, there is no land, not an acre, the char- 
acter of which is not established by law, a law which cannot be repealed without the violation of a 
•contract, and plain disregard of the public faith. 

I hope, sir, it is now apparent that my proposition, so far as it respects Texas, has been maintained ; 
and that the provision in this article is clear and absolute; and it has been well suggested by my friend 
from Rhode Island that that part of Texas winch lies north of thirty-four degrees of north latitude, 
and which may be formed into free States, is dependant, in like manner, upon the consent of Texas, 
herself a slave State. 

Well, now, sir, how came this? How came it to pass, that within these walls, where it is said by the 
honorable member from South Carolina that the free States have always had a majority, this resolu- 
tion of annexation, such as I have described it, found a majority in both Houses of Congress? Why, 
sir, it found that majority by the great number of Northern votes added to the entire Southern vote, 
or at least nearly the whole of the Southern votes. The aggregate was in ide up of Northern, and 
Southern votes. In the House of Representatives it stood, 1 think, about eighty Southern votes for 
the admission of Texas, and about fiftv Northern votes for the ..dm ssion of Texas. In the Senate 
the vote stood for the admission of Texas twenty-seven, and twenty- five against if, and of those 
twenty-seven votes, constituting a majority for the admission of Texas in this body, no less than 
thirteen came from the free Sta'es, and four of them were from New England . The whole of these thir- 
teen Senators constituting, within a fraction, you see, of one-half of all the votes in this body for the 
admission of Texas, with its immeasurable extent of slave territory, were sent here by free States. 

Sir, there is not so remarkable a chapter in our history of political events, political parties, and poli- 
tical men, as is afforded by this measure for the admission of Texas, with this immense territory, that 
a bird cannot fly over in a week. [Laughter.] Sir, New England, with some of her own votes, support- 
ed this measure. Three-fourths of the votes of liberty-loving Connecticut were given for it in the other 
House; and one-half here. There was one vote for it in Maine, but I am happy to say not the vote 
of the honorable member who addressed the Senate the day before yesterday, (Mr. Hamliv,) and who 
was then a Representative from Maine in the House of Representatives; but there was avoieor twofrom 
Maine, ay, and there was one vote for it from Mi ssachusetts, given by a gentleman then representing, 
and now living in, the district in which the prevalence to some extent of free-soil sen it men t for a cou- 
ple of years or so has defeated the choice of any member to represent it in Congress. Sir, that body 
of Northern and Eastern men, who gave those votes at that time, are now seen taking upon them- 
selves, in the nomenclature of politics, the appellation of the Northern Democracy. They undertook 
to wield the destinies of this empire, if I may call a republic an empire, and their policy was, mid 
they persisted in it, to bring into this country, and under this Government, all the territory they could. 
They did it under pledges, absolute pledges to the slave interest in the case of Texas, and after- 
wards they lent their aid in bringing in these new conquests to take their chance for slavery or Iree- 
dom. My honorable friend from Georgia, ig March, 1847. moved the Senate to declare that the 
war ought not to be prosecuted for acquisition, for conquest, for the dismemberment of Mexico. The 
same Northern Democracy entirely voted against it. He did not get a vote from them. It suited the 
views, the patriotism, the elevated sentiments of the Northern Democracy to bring in a world here, 
among the mountains and vaheys of California and New Mexico, or any other part of Mexico, and 
then quarrel about it; to brinf: i't in, ami then endeavor to pin noon it the saving grace of the. Wilmot 
proviso. There were two eminent and highly respectable gentlemen Horn the North and East, then 
leading gentlemen in the Senate—! refer, "and I do so with" entire respect, for I entertain for both of 
those gentlemen, in general, high regard, to Mr. i nx, of New York, and Mr. Niles, oi Connecticut— 
who both voted for the admission of Texas. They would not have that vote any other way than as it 
stood ; and they would have it as it did stand. I speak of the vote upon the annexation of Texus. 
Those two gentlemen would have the resolution of annexation just as it is, and they voted (or it just 
as it is, and their eyes were all open to its true character. The honorable member who addressed us 
the other day from South Carolina, w,.s then Secretary of State. His correspondence with Mr. Mur- 
phy, the charge d'affaires of the United Slates in I'exas, had been published. That correspondence 
was all before those gentlemen, and the Secretary had the boldness and candor to avow in that corres- 
pondence that the great object sought by the annexation of Texas was to strengthen the slave interest 
of the South. Why, sir, he said so, in so many words — 



Mr. Cm iiotv. Will the honorable Senator permit me to interrupt him for a moment ? 
« Mr. Wi bi hi; < '• rl lioly. 

Mr. Calhoun. 1 am very reluctant to interrupt the honorable gentleman ; but, upon a point of so- 
n)UC |, ■ right to put myself rectus in curia. I did not put it upon the ground 

a8JUUi I pat it upon this ground i that Great Britain had announced to this coun- 

try in -i. many words, thai ner objeel was to aboliBh slavery in Texas and through Texas to accom- 
pli | m the United Si tti s and the world. The ground I put it on was, 
that u would maki intier, and, if Great Britain succeeded in her object, it would be im- 
lethat that frontier could bi egressions of the abolitionists; and that this 
i, under the guaranties of the Constitution, to protect us against such a state 

of things. 

M,.. Weuster. That comes, I suppose, sir, to exactly the same thing. It was, that Texas must 

be obtained for the security of the slave interest of the South. 
M Calhoun. Another view is very distinctly given. 

Mr. Websi i a. That was the objeel set forth in the corn spondence of a worthy gentleman not now 
living, who preceded the hoi tuber from South Carolina in the Department of State. There 
repose on the filesof the Department of State, as I have occasion to know, strong letters from Mr. Up- 
8 h ur to thi I tes minister in England, and I believe there are some to the same minister from 
the honorable Senator himself, asserting to this effect the Bentiments of this Government, viz: that 
Great Britain was i xpected not to interfere to take Texas oul of the hands of its then existing Govern- 
ment, and make ii mntry. But myargu It, my suggestion is this ; that those gentlemen who 

composed the Northern Democracy when Texas « into the Union, saw, with all their eyes, 

thnt'it wai i rought in as a slave country, and brought in fo mrpose of being maintained as slave 

territory to the Greek Kalends. I rather think the honorable gentleman who was then Secretary of 
Suite might, in some of his correspondence with Mr. Murphy, have suggested that it was not expe- 
dient to say too much aboul this object, lest it should create some alarm. Atany rate, Mr. Murphy 
wrote to him, that England was anxious to'gel rid ofthi on ilution of Texas, because it was a eon- 
stitution establishing slavery; and that what the United States had to do, was to aid the people of 
Texas in upholding their constitution ; but that nothing should besaia", which should offend the fanati- 
cal men ofthi North. But, sir, the honorable member did avow this object himself, openly, boldly, 
and manfully; he did not disguise his conduct, or his motives. 
Mr. Calhoun. Never, never. 

Mr Webster. What he means he is very apt to say. 
Mr. < Jalhoun. Always, al . 
— Mr. Webster. And 'I honor him for it. This admission of Texas was in 1845. Then, in 1847, 
flagrante bell the United Stars and Mexico, the proposition I have mentioned was brought 

forward by my friend from Georgia, and the Northern Democracy voted straight ahead against it. 
Their remedy was to a, ply to the acquisitions, afu uld come in, the WTimol proviso. What 

follows : These two gentlemen, worthy and honorable and influential men, and if they had not been 
they could not have c irried the measure, these two g< ntlemen,memb< idy, brought in Texas, 

and by their votes tiny also pr< \. nted th pass e i Fthi re ioIi tion of the. honorable member from Geor- 
gia, and then they went home and took the lead in the Free-soil party. And there they stand, sir! They 
leave us here, bound in honor and conscience by the resolutions of annexation, they leave us here, to 
take- of fulfilling the obligations'in favoi of slavery, which they voted us into, or else the greater 

odium of violatin ligations, while they ai lital and rousing speeches for 

free-soil and no slavery. [Laughter.] And, "tin. fori I - , i ri there is not a chapter in our 
history, r< ires and pul ill of what should create surprise, more 

full of what doc my mind, extreme mortifi tion, than thai of the conduct of this Northern 

Demo 

Mr. President, sometimes, when a man is found in a. new relation to things around him and to other 
men, he says th. I believe, sir, that our self respect 
lead as often to make this d laration in not exactly true. An indi- 
vidual i. re apl to change, pi rl all the. world oroiin I him. But, under the present circum- 
stances, ai onsibility which I know I incur by what 1 am now Btating here, I feel at 
libei - made at various times, of my own opinions 
and • ' ! owed. Sir, osi Brly as 1836, or 
in the early pari of 1837, tin re ■ I' ce '" tw< en myself and some pri- 
vate friends, on ■' I an honorable gentleman 

w j,h w h,,. : | nf mine, now perhaps in this chamber, I mean 

Gen. Hamilton, < . was kno' 1 had voted for the recog- 

istin f ct, surpr tonishingas 

I |f om the Grst utter opposition to 

\, ril . [ happened, in 1837, to mi el friends in New 

on the subject. It was the Inst time 
tna t | r mi to do me the favor to read an ex- 

tran (Voi.. iay find it n to listei lo the whole of it. It was de- 

livered in N Ii ii m 1837 

Mr. '.. n read the following extract from the i h of Mr. Webster, to which he 

referred : 

" Gentlemen, we all bcc thnt, by whomsoever poascfiBcd, TcxaB is likely to be a slaveholding coun- 



try ; and I frankly avow my entire unwillingness to do anything which shall extend the slavery of the 
African race on this continent, or add other slaveholding States to the Union. 

" When I say that I regard slavery in itself as a great moral, social, and political evil, I only use lan- 
guage which has been adopted by distinguished men, themselves citizens of slaveholding States. 

" I shall do nothing, therefore, to favor or encourage its further extension. We have slavery already 
among us. The Constitution found it among us ; it recognised it, and gave it solemn guaranties. 

'•To the full extent of these guaranties, we are all bound in honor, in justice, and by the Constitu- 
tion. All the stipulations contained in the Constitution in favor of the slaveholding States, which are 
already in the Union, ought to be fulfilled, and, so far as depends on me, shall be fulfilled in the fulness 
of their spirit, and to the exactness of their letter. Slavery, as it exists in the States, is beyond the 
reach of Congress. It is a concern of the States themselves. They have never submitted it to Con- 
gress, and Congress has no rightful power over it. 

" I shall concur, therefore, in no act, no measure, no menace, no indication of purpose, which shall 
interfere, or threaten to interfere, with the exclusive authority of the several States over the subject of 
slavery, as it exists within their respective limits. All this appears to me to be matter of plain and 
imperative duty. 

" But when we come to speak of admitting new States, the subject assumes an entirely different as- 
pect. Our rights and our duties are then both different. * * * 

" I see, therefore, no political necessity for the annexation of Texas to the Union — no advantage to 
be derived from it ; and objections to it of a strong, and, in my judgment, of a decisive character." 
■ Mr. Webster. I have nothing, sir, to add to, nor to take from, those sentiments. That speech, the 
Senate will perceive, was in 1837. The purpose of immediately annexing Texas at that time was 
abandoned or postponed ; and it was not revived wkh any vigor for some years. In the mean time it 
had so happened that I had become a member of the Executive Administration, and was for a short pe- 
riod in the Department of State. The annexation of Texas was a subject of conversation, not confi- 
dential, with the President and heads of Departments, as well as with other public men. No serious 
attempt was then made, however, to bring it about. I left the Department of State in May, 1843, and 
shortly after I learned, though by means which were no way connected with official information, that a 
design had been taken up of bringing Texas, with her slave territory and population, into this 
Union. I was in Washington at the time, and persons are now here who will remember that we had an 
arranged meeting for conversation upon it. I went home to Massachusetts and proclaimed the existence 
of that purpose, but I could get no audience, and but little attention. Some did not believe it, and some 
were too much engaged in their own pursuits to give it any heed. They had gone to their farms, or to 
their merchandise, and it was impossible to arouse any sentiments in New England or in Massachu- 
setts that should combine the two great political parties against this annexation; and indeed there was 
no hope of bringing the Northern Democracy into that view, for the leaning was all the other way. 
But, sir, even with Whigs, and leading Whigs, I am ashamed to say, there was a great indifference 
towards the admission of Texas with slave territory into this Union. The project went on. I was then 
out of Congress. The annexation resolutions passed the 1st of March, 1845; the Legislature of Texas 
complied with the conditions and accepted the guaranties ; for the phraseology of the language of the 
resolution is, that Texas is to come in " upon the conditions and under the guaranties herein prescrib- 
ed." I happened to be returned to the Senate in March, 1845, and was here in December, 1845, when 
the acceptance by Texas of the conditions proposed by Congress was communicated to us by the Presi- 
dent, and an act for the consummation of the connection was laid before the two Houses. The connec- 
tion was then not completed. A final law doing the deed of annexation ultimately had not been passed; 
and when it was put upon its final passage here, I expressed my opposition to it, and recorded my 
vote in the negative ; and there that vote stands, with the observations that I made upon that occasion. 
It has happened that between 1837 and this time, on various occasions and opportunities, I have ex- 
pressed my entire opposition to the admission of slaves States, or the acquisition of new slave territo- 
ries, to be added to the United States. I know, sir, no change in my own sentiments or my own pur- 
poses in that respect. I will now ajain ask my friend from Rhode Island to read another extract from 
a speech of mine, made at a Whig Convention in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the month of Septem- 
ber, 1847. 

Mr. Greene here read the following extract : 

" We hear much just now of a panacea for the dangers and evils of slavery and slave annexation, 
which they call the ' Wilmot proviso.'' That certainly is a just sentiment, but it is not a sentiment to 
found any new party upon. It is not a sentiment on which Massachusetts Whigs differ. There is 
not a man in this hall who holds to it more firmly than I do, nor one who adheres to it more than 
another. 

" I feel some little interest in this matter, sir. Did not I commit myself in 1837 to the whole doc- 
trine, fully, entirely? And I must be permitted to say that I cannot quite consent that more recent 
discoverers should claim the merit and take out a patent. 

" I deny the priority of their invention. Allow me to say, sir, it is not their thunder." * * 
" We are to use the first and last and every occasion which offers to oppose the extension of slave 
power. 

" But I speak of it here, as in Congress, as a political question, a question for statesmen to act upon. 
We must so regard it. I certainly do not mean to say that it is less important in a moral point of 
view, that it is not more important in many other points of view; but, as a legislator, or in any official 
capacity, I must look at it, consider it, and decide it as a matter of political action." 

Mr. Webster. On other occasions, in debates here, I have expressed my determination to vote 



E 



10 

for do acquisition, or cession, or annexation, North or South, East or West My opinion has been, 
thut ssi have territory enough, and that ws should follow the Spartan maxim, "improve, adorn what 
you b no further. '' I think that it was in .some observations that I made on the fhree 

million loan bill, that 1 avow latent In short, sir, the sentiment has been avowed quite as 

. in as many places, and before as 111 my assemblies, as any humble sentiments of mine ought to 
be av< 

Bui now, that, under certain conditions, Texas is in, with all her territory, as a slave Slate, with 
. also, that if she shall be divided into many Slates, those States may come in as slave 
S lh of 30° 30', how are we lo deal with this subject? 1 know no way of honest legislation, 

roper time comes for the enactment, but to cany into effect all thai we have stipulated to do. 
1 do not entirely agree with my honorable friend from Tennessee, (Mr. Bell,) that, as soon as the time 
comes svhi n she is entitled i i anothi r representative, we should create a new State. The rule in re- 
gard t'i it I take to be this: that, when sve have created nesv States out of Territories, we have gene- 
rally gone upon the idea that when there is population enough to form a State, sixty thousand or 
. we would create a State; but it is quite a different thing when a State is divided, and 
twooi more States made out of it. It does not follow, in such a case, that the same rule of apportion- 
ment should be applied. That, however, is a matter for the consideration of Congress, when the pro- 
per til 1 may not then be here. 1 may have no vote to give on the occasion, but I wish it 
to be distinctly understood, to-day, that, according to my viesv of the matter, this Government is so- 
lemn • by law and contract, to create nesv States out of Texas, with her consent, when her 
population shall justify and call for such a proceeding, and so far as such States are formed out of Texan 
territory lying south of 36° 30', to let them come in as slave States. That is the meaning of the resolution 
which our friends, the Northern Democracy, havejeft us to fulfil; and I, for one, mean to fulfil it, be- 
cause I will not violate the faith ot' the Government. What I mean to say is, that the time for the 
admission of new States formed out of Texas, the number of such States, their boundaries, and the 
requisite amounts of population, and other things connected with the admission, are in the free discre- 
tion of Congress, except this, to wit, that when new States, formed out of Texas, are to be admitted, 
they have a right, by legal stipulation and contract, to come in as slave States. 

as in California and Nesv Mexico, I hold slavery to be excluded fro m those Territorie s by 
a lav. i nor to that which admits antTlumetiohs'IFTh Texas! T mean the Taw of nat ure, fjf 
geography, the law of the formation of the earth. That law settles forever'! svitli a strength 
eyond .ill terms of human enactment, that slavery cannot exist in California or New Mexico. Un- 
derstand me, sir ; I mean slavery as we regard it; slaves in gross, of the colored race, transferable by 
sale and delivery, like other property. I shall not discuss the point, but leave it to the learned gentle- 
men who have undertaken to discuss it; but I suppose there is no slave of that description in California 
now. I understand that peonitm, a sort of penal servitude, exists there, or rather a s »rt of voluntary 
sale of a man and his offspring for debt, as it is arranged and exists in some parts of California and some 
provinces of Mexico. But what I mean to say is, that African slavery, as sve see it among us. is as utterly 
impossible to find itself, or to be found in California and New Mexico, as any other natural impossibility. 
California and New Mexico are Asiatic, in their formation and scenery. They are composed of vasl ridges 
of mountains of enormous height, with broken ridges and deep valleys. The sides of these mountains are 
barren, entirely barren; their tops capped by perennial snow. There may be in California, now made 
free by its constitution, and no doubt tin re are, some tracts of valuable land. But it is not so in New 
I Pray, what is the evidence which every gentleman must have obtained on tins subject, from 
information sought by himself, or communicated by others. 1 have inquired and read all I could find, 
in ordi r to acquire information on this important question. What is there in Nesv Mi xico that could 
by any possibility induce any body to go tin re with slaves? There are some narrow strips of tillable 
land on the borders of the risers; but the rivers themselves dry up, before midsummer is gone. All that 
i do in that region, is to raise some little articles, some little wheat for their tortillas, and 
ail that by in igation. And who expects to see a hundred black men cultivating tobacco, corn, cotton, rice, 
or any thing e Be, on lands m New Ml xico, made fertile only by irrigation? I look upon it, therefore, as 
a fixed fact, to use an expression current at this day, that both California and Nesv Mexico are destined 
• , so fir as they arc settled at all, which 1 believe, especially in regard to New Mexico, will be 
very h tie foi a great length of time ; free l>y tin- arrangement of things by the Power abuse us. 1 have 
ty, in this respect also, ihat this country is fixed for freedom, tons, many persons as shall 
lableand more irrepealablealaw.than the law that attaches to the right of hold- 
and 1 will say further, that if a resolution, or a law, were now before ua lo provide a 
nt foi Nesv Mexico, I would not vote to put any prohibition into it whatever. The 
n b prohibition would be idle, as it respects any i ffect it would have upon the Ti rritory; and 1 
would nottaki paim tore-affirm an ordinance of Nature, nor to re-enact the will of God. And I would 
pat in no Wilmol provi oforthi men purpoa of a taunt or a reproach. [ would put into it no evidence 
ior power, for no purposi bi i lowound the pride, even whether a jus pride, a rational 
•"' irrauonal pridi , to wound the pride of the gentlemen who belong to Southern StaU a. 1 have 
no trpose, Tiny would think ita taunt, an indignity; they would think it to 
king away from them what they regard a propei equality of privilege; .mil whether they 
iv benefit from itoi not, they would think it at least a plain theoretic wrong; that 
■omethii j to thi i charactet and their rights had taken place, [propose to 
infln i on i uch wound upon any bodj thing essentially important to the country, and effi- 

cient to the pi ol liberty and freedom, is to be effected. Therefore, I repeat, sir, and I re- 

peat n because I w*h it to be understood, that I do no) propose to address the Senate often on this 



11 

subject. I desire to pour ost all my heart in as plain amanner sjepossibk; and I say, again, therefore 
tliat if a proposition were now here for a Government for New Mexico, and it was moved to insert a 
provision for a prohibition of slavery, I would not vote for it. 

Now, Mr. President, I have established, so far as I proposed to go into any line of observation to 
establish, the proposition with which 1 set out, and upon which 1 propose to stand or fall : and that 
is, that the whole territory of the States in the United States, or in the newly acquired territory of the 
United States, has a fixed and settled character, now fixed and settled by law, which cannot be repealed' 
in the case of Texas without a violation of public faith, and by no human power in regard to Califor- 
nia or New Mexico ; that, therefore, under one or other of these laws, every foot of land in the States 
or in the Territories has already received a fixed and decided character. 

Sir, if we were now making a government for New Mexico, and any body should propose a Wil- 
mot proviso, I should treat it exactly as Mr. Polk treated that provision for excluding slavery from 
Oregon. Mr. Polk was known to be in opinion decidedly averse to the Wilmot proviso; but he felt 
the necessity of establishing a government for the Territory of Oregon, and, though the proviso was 
in it, he knew it would be entirely nugatory ; and, since it must be entirely nugatory, since it took 
away no right, no describable, no estimable, no weighable or tangible right of the South, he said he 
would sign the bill for the sake of enacting a law to form a government in that Territory, and let that 
entirely useless, and, in that connexion entirely senseless, proviso remain. Sir, we hear much 
of the annexation of Canada; and if there be any man, any of the Northern Democracy, or 
any one of the Free-Soil party, who supposes it necessary to insert a Wilmot proviso in a terri- 
torial government for New Mexico, that man will of course be of opinion that it is necessary to 
protect the everlasting snows of Canada from the foot of slavery by the same overspreading wing of an 
act of Congress. Sir, wherever there is a substantive good to be done; wherever there is a foot of land 
to be staid back from becoming slave territory, 1 am ready to assert the principle of the exclusion of 
slavery. I am pledged to it from the year 1837 ; 1 have b^en pledged to it again and again ; and I will 
perform those pledges ; but I will not do a thing unnecessarily, that wounds the feelings of others, or 
that does disgrace to my own understanding. 

Mr. President, in the excited times in which we live, there is found to exist a state of crimination 
and recrimination between the North and South. There are lists of grievances produced by each ; and 
those grievances, real or supposed, alienate the minds of one portion of the country from the other, 
exasperate the feelings, and subdue the sense of fraternal affection, patriotic love, and mutual regard. 
I shall bestow a little attention, sir, upon these various grievances produced on the one side, and on the 
other. 1 begin with the complaints of the South. 1 will not answer, further than I have, the general 
statements of the honorable Senator from South Carolina, that the North has grown upon the^South 
in consequence of the manner of administering this Government, in the collecting of its revenues, and 
so forth. These are disputed topics, and I have no inclination to enter into them. But I will state 
these complaints, especially one complaint of the South, which has in my opinion just foundation ; 
and that is, that there has been found at the North, among individuals and among legislators of the 
North, a disinclination to perform, fully, their constitutional duties in regard to the return of persons 
bound to service who have escaped into the free States. In that respect, it is my judgment that the 
South is right, and the North is wrong. Every member of every Northern Legislature is bound by 
oath, like every other officer in the country, to support the Constitution of the United States ; and this 
article of the Constitution, which says to these States they shall deliver up fugitives from service, is as 
binding in honor and conscience as any other article. No man fulfils his duty in any Legislature who 
sets himself to find excuses, evasions, escapes from this constitutional obligation. I have always 
thought that the Constitution addressed itself to the Legislatures of the States, or to the States 
themselves. It says that those persons escaping to other States shall be delivered up, and I con- 
fess I have always been of the opinion that it was an injunction upon the States themselves. When 
it is said that a person escaping into another State, and becoming therefore within the jurisdiction of 
that State, shall be delivered up, it seems to me the import of the passage is, that the State itself, in 
obedience to the Constitution, shall cause him to be delivered up. That is my judgment. I have al- 
ways entertained that opinion, and I entertain it now. But when the subject, so ne years a°\o, was 
before the Supreme Court of the United States, the majority of the judges held that the power to cause 
fugitives from service to be delivered up was a power to be exercised under the authority of this Gov- 
ernment. I do not know, on the whole, that it may not have been a fortunate decision. My habit is 
to respect, the. result of judicial deliberations and the solemnity of judicial decisions. But, as it now 
stands, the business of seeing that these fugitives are delivered up resides in the power of Congress and 
the national judicature, and my friend at the head of the Judiciary Committee has a bill on the subject 
now before the Senate, with some amendments to it, which I propose, to support, with all its provi- 
sions, to the fullest extent. And I desire to call the attention of all sober-minded men, of all conscien- 
tious men, in the North, of all men who are not carried away by any fanatical idea or by any false idea 
whatever, to their constitutional obligations. I put it to all the sober and sound minus at the North as 
a question of morals and a question of conscience. What right have they, in their legislative capacity, 
or any other capacity, to endeavor to get round this Constitution, to embarrass the free exercise of the 
rights secured by the Constitution to the persons whose slaves escape from them ? None at all; none at 
all. Neither in the forum of conscience, nor before the face of the Constitution, are they justified, in my 
opinion. Of course it is a matter for their consideration. They probably, in the turmoil of the times, 
have not stopped to consider of this ; they h ive followed what seemed to be the current of thought and 
of motives as the occasion arose, and they neglected to investigate fully the real question, and to con- 



12 

sider their constitutional obligations; B6 I am sure, if they did consider, they would fulfil them with 
alacrity. Therefore, h t here is a ground of complaint against the North well founded, 

which oughl to be remo itia now ill the power of the different departments of this Govern- 

for ihe ena iment of proper laws authorizing the judicature of tins Gov- 
ernment, in ihe sev< ral Stati s, i" do all th wary for the recapture of fugitive slaves, and for 

jtoretioa of them o claim them. '•'■ I go, and whenever I speak on the sub- 

1 speak b< re 1 desire to speak to the whole North, 1 say that the South has been in- 

in ; and the North has been too careless of what I think 

the Constitution peremptorily ami emphatically enjoins upon her as a duty. 

Complaint has been made against ■ i i lain resolutions that emanate from Legislatures at the North, 

only on the subject i , in this District, but sometimes recommend- 

ing Congress to < meansofal tvery in the States. I should be sorry to be called 

upon • re which could not be referrable to any committee or arty power in 

... 1 should be unwilling to receive from the Legislature of Massachusetts any 

instructions to present resolutions expressive of any opinion whatever on the subject of slavery as it 

ent moment in the States, for two reasons : because, first, I do not consider that the 
I., o b! iture of Mi ; has any thing to do with it ;and next, I do not consider that I, as her repro- 

ve any thing to do with it. Sir, it has become, in my opinion, quite too common, and, 
ifthe Legislature nut liki that (>.• nin iii, they have a great deal more power to put it down, 

than 1 have to uphold it; it has become, in my opinion, quite too common a practice for the State Legis- 
latures to present resolutions hereon all subjects, and to instruct us here on all subjects. There is no 
public man that requires instruction m ire than I do, or who requires information more than I do, or 
desires it more heartily ; but 1 do not like to have it come in too imperative a shape. 1 took notice, 
with pleasure, of some remarks upon this subject made the other day in the Senate of Massachusetts, 
by a young man of talent and character, of whom the best hopes may be entertained. I mean Mr. 
Hillard. "He told the Senate of Massachusetts that he would vote for no instructions whatever to be 
forwarded to members of Congress, nor for any resolutions to be offered, expressive of the sense of 
Massachusetts, as to what her men ighttodo. He said that be saw no' propriety 

in one set of public servants giving instructions and reading lectures to another set of public servants. 
To their own master all of them musl Ian I or fall, and that master is their constituents. 1 wish these 
sentiments could become more common, a great deal more common. I have never entered into the 
question, and never shall, about the binding force of instructions. I will, however, simply say this: 
if there lie any matter pending in this body, while I am a member of it, in which Massachusetts has 
an interest of her nun not adverse to the general interests of the country, I shall pursue her instruc- 
tions with gladness of heart, and with all the efficiency which I can bring to the occasion. But if 
the question be one which afftcts her interest, and at the same time equally affects the interests of all other 
States, 1 shall no mon r< gard her pan - or instructions, than I should regard the wishes of 

a man who might appoint me an arbiln tor, or r feree, to decide somequestu n ofimportant private right 
between him and his neighbor, and then instruct me to decide in his favor. If ever there was a Govern- 
ment upon earth, it is this Government ; if « ■ a body upon earth, it is this body, which 
should consider itself as composed by agreement of all, each member appointed by some, but organ- 
ized by the general consent of all, e under the solemn obligations of oath and conscience to 
do that which they think to be best for the good of the whole. 

Then, sir, there are the abolition societies, of which I am unwilling to speak, but in regard to which 
I have very clear notions and opinions. I do not think them useful. I think their operations for the 
last twenty years have produced nothing good or valuable. At the same time, I know thousands of 
their members to be honest and good" m Lly well meaning men. They have excited feelings; 

they think they must do son of liberty, and m their sphere of action they do not 

see what i Ise they can do, than to contribute to an b i tion pi 1 1, or an uboliti in society, or to pay an 

aboliti i I do not mean to if tegros motives even to the leaders of these pocii ties, but I 

am not blind to the consequences of ih< . I cannot but see ; what mischiefs 'heir tnter- 

e with the South has produced ■ lain to every man? Let anv gentleman who 

. recur to th Delegates in 1832, and he will see with 

what abolition of slavery was discussed 

in that body. Ever] thought ; very ignominious and disparaging names 

and epithets were applied to it. Th tee in the House, of Delegates on that occasion, I believe, 

nd. They wen rend I i - colored man who could read, and to those who could 
notn , A that timi Virginia was not unwilling norafraidto 

disci: if the discussion as they could 

ham. That was in I ible member from South Carolina, these 

aboli 1835. Ilia lid, I do not know how true it may 

be, that lh< i; at any event, they attempted to arouse, 

and did ai real agitation in the North against 

,. Well, v. f the slaves were bound more firmly than 

before; their rivets wei n ion, which in Virginia had begun, to be 

exhi ningouifoi of the question, drew back and shut 

itself up in its castle, (wish to I Ij . Virgil a can, now, talk as Mr. Randolph, 

Uov. McDowell, and othi openly, and sent iheir remarks to Ihe press, in 1832? We 

all know the fact, and we ttl! km. v. ,,,! every thing Lh it this agitating people have done has 

I free, but to bind faster the slave population of the South. 



13 

• 

That is my judgment. Sir, as I have said, I know many abolitionists in my own neighborhood, very 
honest, good people, misled, as I think, by strange enthusiasm .; but they wish to do something, 
and thev are called on to contribute, and they do contribute; ami it is my firm opinion this d:iy, that 
within the last twenty years as much money has been collected and paid to the abolition societies, 
abolition presses, and abolition lecturers, as would purchase theireedom of every slave, man, woman, 
and child, in the State of Maryland, and send them all to Liberia. I have no doubt of it. But I have 
yet to learn that the benevolence of these abolition societies has at any time taken that particular turn. 
[Laughter.] 

Again, sir, the violence of the press is complained of. The press violent! Why, sir, the press is 
violent every where. There are outrageous reproaches in the North against the South, and there 
are reproaches no better in the South against the North. Sir, the extremists of both parts 
of this country are violent; they mistake loud and violent talk for eloquence and for reason. They 
think that he who talks loudest reasons best. And this we must expect, when the press is free, 
as it is here, and I trust always will be; for, with all its licentiousness, and all its evil, the 
entire and absolute freedom of the press is essential to the preservation of government on the basis of 
a free constitution. Wherever it exists, there will be foolish paragraphs and violent paragraphs in 
the press, as there are, I am sorry to say, foolish speeches and violent speeches in both Houses of 
Congress. In truth, sir, I must say that, in my opinion, the vernacular tongue of the country has 
become greatly vitiated, depraved, and corrupted by the style of our congressional debates. [Laugh- 
ter.] And if it were possible for those debates in Congress to vitiate the principles of the people as 
much as they have depraved their taste, I should cry out, " God save the Republic !" 

Well, in all this I see no solid grievance, no grievance presented by the South, within the redress 
of the Government, but the single one to which I have referred ; and that is, the want of a proper 
regard to the injunction of the Constitution for the delivery of fugitive slaves. 

There are also complaints of the North against the South. I need not go over them particularly. 
The first and gravest is, that the North adopted the Constitution, recognising the existence of slavery 
in the States, and recognising the right, to a certain extent, of representation of the slaves in Congress, 
under a state of sentiment and expectation, which do not now exist; and that, by events, by circum- 
stances, by the eagerness of the South to acquire territory and extend her slave population, the North 
finds itself, in regard to the relative influence of the South and the North, of the free States and the slave 
States, where it never did expect to find itself when they agreed to the compact of the Constitution. They 
complain, therefore, that, instead of slavery being regarded as an evil, as it was then, an evil which all 
hoped would be extinguished gradually, it is now regarded by the South as an institution to be cher- 
ished, and preserved, and extended ; an institution which the South has already extended to the ut- 
most of her power by the acquisition of new territory. 

Well, then, passing from that, every body in the North reads; and every body reads whatsoever 
the newspapers contain; and the newspapers, some of them, especially those presses to which I 
have alluded, are careful to spread about among the people every reproachful sentiment uttered by 
any Southern man bearing at all against the North ; every thing that is calculated^ to exasperate, 
to alienate; and there are "many such things, as every body will admit, from the South, or some 
portion of it, which are disseminated among the reading people; and they do exasperate, an 
alienate, and produce a most mischievous effect upon the public mind at the North. Sir, I would 
not notice things of this sort appearing in obscure quarters; but one thing has occurred in this 
debate which struck me very forcibly. An honorable member from Louisiana addressed us the 
other day on this subject. I suppose there is not a more amiable and worthy gentleman in this 
chamber, nor a gentleman who would be more slow to give offence to anybody, and he did not mean 
in his remarks to give offence. But what did he say? Why, sir, he too* pains to run a contrast be- 
tween the slaves of the South and the laboring people of the North, giving the preference in all points 
of condition, and comfort, and happiness, to the slaves of the South. The honorable member, doubt- 
less, did not suppose that he gave any offence, or did any injustice. He was merely expressing his 
opinion. But does he know how remarks of that sort will be received by the laboring people ot the 
North? Why who are the laboring people of the North? They are the North. They are the peo- 
ple who cultivate their own farms with their own hands ; freeholders, educated men, independent men. 
Let me say, sir, that five-sixths of the whole property of the North is in the hands of the laborers of 
the North; they cultivate their farms, they educate their children, they provide the means ot inde- 
pendence; if they are not freeholders, they earn wages; these wages accumulate are turned into cap- 
ital, into new freeholds, and small capitalists are created. That is the case, and such the course of 
thino-s among the industrious and frugal. And what can these people think when so respectable and 
worthy a gentleman as the member from Louisiana undertakes to prove that the absolute ignorance and 
the abject slavery of the South are more in conformity with the high purposes and destiny of immortal, 
rational, human beings, than the educated, the independent, free labor of the North? 

There is a more tangible and irritating cause of grievance at the North. Free blacks are constantly 




iiigly unjustifiable and oppressive. ", ,""","" "; 

intended effort to remove this cause of complaint. The North thinks such imprisonments illegal and 
unconstitutional ; and as the cases occur constantly, and frequently, they regard it as a great grievance. 
Now sir, so far as any of these grievances have their foundation in matters of law, thay can De re- 
dressed, and ought to be redressed; and so far as they have their foundation in matters of opinion, in 



14 

sentiment, in mutual crimination and recrimination, all that wc can do is to endeavor to allay the 1 ( 
agitation, and cultivate a better feeling ami more Fraternal BentimentB between the South and the North. w 
3 .\1r. President, I should much prefer to have heard from every member on this floor declarations ol",^, 
opinion that this Union should never be dissolved, than the declaration of opinion by any body that, in 
any case, tinder the pressure of any circumstances, such a dissolution was possible. I hear withlC 
pain, and anguish, and distress, the word "secession," especially when it falls from the lips of those 
who are patriotic, and known to the country, and known all over the world, for their political services j L 
Secession! P< iceal le secession! Sir, your eyes and mine are never destined to see that miracle. K 
The dismemberment of this vast country without convulsion ! The breaking up of the fountains of, 
the great deep without ruffling the surface! Who is so foolish, I be? every body's pardon, as to ex- 
pect, to see any such thin?' Sir, he who sees these States, now revolving in harmony around a eom-i 
mon centre, and expects To see them quit their places and fly off' without convulsion, may look the 
next hour to seethe heavenly bodies rush from their spheres, and jostle against each other in the realms Lj 
of space, without causing the crush of the universe. There can be no such thing as a peaceable se-i L 
cession. Peaceable secession is an utter impossibility. Is the great Constitution under which we eBl 
live, covering this whole country, is it to be thawed and melted away by secession, as the snowsL, 
on the mountain melt under the influence of a vernal sun? disappear almost unobserved, and run off; 
No, sir! No, sir! I will not state what might produce the disruption of the Union ; but, sir, I see 
as plainly as I see the sun in heaven, what that disruption must produce; 1 see that it must produce 
war, such a war as 1 will not describe, in its twofold character. 

Peaceable secession ! — peaceable secession! The concurrent agreement of all the members of this 
great republic to separate! A voluntary separation, with alimony on one side and on the other. Why, 
what would be the result? Where is the line to be drawn ? What States are to secede? What is to 
remain American? What am I to be? An American no longer? Am I to become a sectional man. 
a local man, a separated? with no country, in common with the gentlemen who sit around me here. 

i fill the other house, of Congress? Heaven forbid! Where is the flag of the republic 
■i- Where is the eagle still to "tower? or is he to cower and shrink and fall to the ground! 
Why, sir, our ancestors — our fathers and our grandfathers, those of them that are yet living amongst 
us wnli prolonged lives, would rebuke and reproach us ; and our children and our grandchildren would 
cry out shame°upon us, if we, of this generation, should dishonor these ensigns of the power of the 
Government and the harmony of that Union, which is every day felt among us with so much joy and 
gratitude. What is to become of the army ? What is to become of the navy ? What is to become ol 
the public lands? How is each of the thirty States to defend itself? I know, although the idea has 

i stated distinctly, there is to be, or it is supposed possible that there should be, a Southern 
Confeih rev. I do not mean, when I allude to this statement, that any one seriously contemplate! 
such a stale of things. I do not mean to say that it is true, but I have heard it suggested elsewhere 
that that idea has originated a design to separate. I am sorry, sir, that it has ever been thought 
of, talked of, or dreamed of, in the wildest flights of human imagination. But the idea, so far as it 
exists, must be of a separation, assigning the slave States to one side, and the free States to the 
other. Sir, there is not, I may express myself too strongly, perhaps, but some things, some 
moral things, are almost as impossible as other natural or physical things; and 1 hold the idee 

aration of these States, those that are free to form one government, and those that are slave- 
holding to form another, as a moral impossibility. We could not separate the States by any 
such line, if we were to draw it. We could not sit down here to-day* and draw a line of separation 
that won!, I satisfy any five men in the country. There are natural causes that would keep and tie us 
togetlur, and thei al and domestic relations which we could not break if we would, and .. 

we should not if we could. Sir, nobody can look over the face of this country at the present moment 
nobody can Bee where its population is the most dense and growing, without being ready to admit 
and compelled to admit, that ere long America will be in the valley of the Mississippi. 

V, i IJ, nOM , sir, I beg to inquire what the wildest enthusiast has to say on the possibility of cuttm« 
that river in two, and leaving free States at its source, and its branches, and slave States down near 
its mouth, each forming a separate government? Pray, sir; pray, sir, let me say to the people of this 
worthy of their pondering and of their consideration. Here, sir, are 
five millions of freemen in the north of the river Ohio: can any body suppose that this 

population can be severed by a line that divides them from the territory of a foreign and an alien Gov- 
ern!,, m • I M d knows where, upon the lower banks of the Mississippi? What 
I ,! ri? Will she join the arrondissement of the slave States ? Shall the man 
from the yellow Stone and the Platte !» : ' connected, in the new Republic, with the man who lives on .' 
n i xtremity of the Cape of Florida? Sir, 1 am ashamed to pursue this line of remark. 1 ;, 
dislike it. I have;.,) utter disgust for it. I would rather hear of natural blasts and mildews, war. 
pestih nee, and famine, than to hear gentlemen tall, i on. To break up! to break up this great 

b country, to astonish Europe with an act of folly such as 

,pe for two centuries has n <rer beheld in any Government or any people! No, sir; no sir 
There \ Gi ntli d • i *hen they talk of secession. 

[hear there i to be a Convention held at Nai hville. I am bound to believe thai if won 

tlcme'n meet ' ■ tb< ir ol jeel w ill be to adopt counsels conciliatory, to &dv»*j 

. oid to advise the North to forbi arance and mod. rati 
id affection, and att ichment to the Constitution of the countrj 
l Convention meet at all, it will be for this purpose; for certain]] 

fJni m, thi y have bet n i in ;ularly inappropriate in their 



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15 

f-a place. I remember, sir, that when the treaty was concluded between France and England, at the 
eace of Amiens, a stern old Englishman and an orator, who regarded the conditions of The peace as 
jnominious to England, said in the House of Commons, that if King William could know the terms of 
hat treaty, he would turn in his coffin. Let me commend this saying of Mr. Windham, in all its em- 
phasis and in all its force, to any persons who shall meet at Nashville for the purpose of concerting 
leasures for the overthrow of this Union over the bones of Andrew Jackson. 

Sir, I wish now to make two remarks, and hasten to a conclusion. I wish to say, in regard to Texas, 
lat if it should be, hereafter, at any time, the pleasure of the Government of Texas to cede to the 
Tnited States a portion, larger or smaller, of her territory which lies adjacent to New Mexico, and 
orth of 34° of north latitude, to be formed into free States, for a fair equivalent in money or in the 
ayment of her debt, I think it an object well worthy the consideration of Congress, and* I shall be 
appy to concur in it myself, if I should be in the public counsels of the country at the time. 

I have one other remark to make. In my observations upon slavery as it has existed in the country, 
nd as it now exists, I have expressed no opinion of the mode of its extinguishment or melioration, 
will say, however, though I have nothing to propose, because I do not deem myself so compe- 
:nt as other gentlemen to take any lead, that if any gentleman from the South shall propose a 
meme of colonization, to be carried on by this Government upon a large scale, for the transportation 
f free colored people to any colony or any place in the world, I should be quite disposed to incur al- 
lost any degree of expense to accomplish that object. Nay, sir, following an example set here more 
lan twenty years ago by a great man, then a Senator from. New York, I would return to Virginia, 
nd through her for the benefit of the whole South, the money received from the lands and territories 
;ded by her to this Government, for any such purpose as to relieve, in whole or in part, or in any 
ay to diminish or deal beneficially with, the free colored population of the Southern States. I have 
lid that I honor Virginia for her cession of this territory. There have been received into the treasury 
"the United States eighty millions of dollars, the proceeds of the sales of the public lands ceded by 
2r. If the residue should be sold at the same rate, the whole aggregate will exceed two hundred 
illions of dollars. If Virginia and the South see fit to adopt any proposition to relieve themselves 
om the free people of color among them, or such as may be made free, they have my free consent 
at the Government shall pay them any sum of money out of its proceeds, which may be adequate 

the purpose. 

And now, Mr. President, I draw these observations to a close. I have spoken freely, and I meant 

do so. I have scught to make no display; 1 have sought to enliven the occasion by no animated 
scussion, nor have I attempted any train of elaborate argument. I have wished only to speak my 
ntiments, fully and at large, being desirous once and for all to let the Senate know, and to let the 
'Untry know, the opinions and sentiments which I entertain on all these subjects. These opinions 
e not likely to be suddenly changed. If there be any future service that I can render to the country,, 
insistently with these sentiments and opinions, I shall cheerfully render it. If there be not, I shall 
ill be glad to have had an opportunity to disburden my conscience from the bottom of my heart, and 

make known every political sentiment that therein exists. 

And now, Mr. President, instead of speaking of the possibility or utility of secession, instead of 

veiling in these caverns of darkness, instead of groping with those ideas so full of all that is horrid 

d horrible, let us come out into the light of day;")et us enjoy the fresh air of Liberty and Union; let 

cherish those hopes which belong to us ; let us devote ourselves to those great objects that are fit 
r our consideration and our action ; let us raise our conceptions to the magnitude and the importance 

the duties that devolve upon us; let our comprehension be as broad as the country for which we act y 
.r aspirations as high as its certain destiny ; let us not be pigmies in a case that calls for men. Never 
i there devolve on any generation of men higher trusts than now devolve upon us, for the preserva- 
>n of this Constitution, and the harmony and peace of all who are destined to live under it. Let us 
\ke our generation one of the strongest and brightest links in that golden chain, which is destined, 
bndly believe, to grapple the people of all the States to this Constitution, for ages to come. We have 
;reat, popular, constitutional Government, guarded by lav/, and by judicature, and defended by the 
iole affections of the people. No monarchial throne presses these States together ; no iron 
ain of military power encircles them ; they live and stand upon a Government popular in its form, 
Dresentative in its character, founded upon principles of equality, and so costructed, we hope, as to last 
•ever. In all its history it. has been beneficent ; it has trodden down no man's liberty ; it has crushed 

State. Its daily respiration is liberty and patriotism ; its yet youthful veins are full of enterprise, 
urage, and honorable love of glory and renown. Large before, the country has now, by recent 
ents, become vastly larger. This republic now extends, with a vast breadth, across the whole conti- 
nt. The two great seas of the world wash the one and the other shore. We realize, on a mighty 
ile, the beautiful description of the ornamental edging of the buckler of Achilles — 

"Now the broad shield complete, the artist crowned 
With his last band, and poured the ocean round ; 
In living silver seemed the waves to roll, 
And beat the buckler's verge, and bound the whole." 



I 14 



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